Although Sarutobi Asuma would become one of Konoha's top elite jonin in the future, both in strength and character he could be considered a pillar of Konoha.
However, in his youth he was a rebellious teenager. Only now, after having served as one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja for several years, has his temperament somewhat mellowed.
So, how could someone who dared to argue directly with the Third Hokage look favorably upon someone like Danzo, the darkness of Konoha?
Not to mention, the Shimura Taiji before them was nothing more than a wild dog from Danzo's household.
"Why aren't you speaking, could it be because you don't have the money?"
Sarutobi Asuma laughed without holding back at all, then took out his wallet and shook it, saying, "If you don't have the money, I can front it for you, and I'll personally go collect from Danzo later."
"Our elders are good brothers, so we should get closer too."
Although Sarutobi Asuma's words were polite, anyone could see he intended to use this matter to embarrass the Shimura family.
Perhaps he wouldn't directly provoke Danzo, but privately mocking Danzo about this in front of the Third Hokage was definitely something he would dare to do.
Sweat dripped from Shimura Taiji's forehead.
Might Guy alone was already putting a lot of pressure on him, but now there were also Yuhi Kurenai and Sarutobi Asuma, and even Sarutobi Asuma was helping this Nojuro Ryun.
Wasn't this guy just a civilian orphan, how did he suddenly have such extensive connections?
Ryun just smiled as he looked at Shimura Taiji.
He truly didn't know many Konoha chunin or jonin yet, but in these days he had gotten to know no fewer than eighty, perhaps even a hundred, elderly people of Konoha.
And the elderly are a group most adept at chatting, what one old person knows can spread to dozens of ears overnight.
And the most crucial point, among the elderly in Konoha who can live healthily into their sixties or seventies, how many don't have ninja children, nephews, or descendants?
The current situation was eighty percent within Ryun's expectations.
The only thing he hadn't anticipated was that Sarutobi Asuma and Yuhi Kurenai would also come.
"Nojuro Ryun, do you really want to shame our Shimura family?"
Seeing that he couldn't afford to offend the vast majority of people here, Shimura Taiji could only glare venomously at Ryun.
After all, from the current perspective, Ryun seemed the easiest to bully.
"I never said I wouldn't repay it, it's just that I'm not in a position to take on missions right now."
"After I complete a B-rank mission later, forget fifty thousand ryo, what about one hundred and fifty thousand ryo?"
"If you don't even have that much magnanimity, why are you running a business at all?"
Sarutobi Asuma frowned, wanting to say something more, but Yuhi Kurenai made a gesture to stop him.
Seeing Sarutobi Asuma's confusion, Yuhi Kurenai said in a low voice, "Let's see if he can handle it himself first."
Although Sarutobi Asuma wouldn't demand anything in return from Ryun, a favor from a jonin was still too valuable for an ordinary person, and more likely to foster arrogant behavior in a young person.
In Yuhi Kurenai's view, if Ryun couldn't resolve all this on his own, then perhaps it was better not to open this shop, at least it could guarantee his own safety.
"Not at all, Chunin-sama."
Ryun spoke calmly, saying, "I was just borrowing your name to tell everyone how much you favor this shop."
"If I really wanted you to repay the debt, I would have long ago had people carrying a scroll and hanging it at the Shimura family's entrance with great fanfare... I wouldn't do something like that."
"Please feel free to continue running a tab at our shop, I promise I will never come to collect the debt from you, but also please allow us to keep this scroll displayed here."
"Of course, if you truly feel displeased..."
Ryun took the brush and, in front of everyone, blacked out the words 'running a tab', then said, "Surely you won't be angry now, right?"
Someone couldn't help but laugh.
Ryun indeed wasn't writing the words 'running a tab' anymore, but among the several dozen people present, who wouldn't remember this incident?
Tomorrow, the story of the Shimura family member who couldn't even pay for a meal would spread throughout all of Konoha. Ryun crossing out those words now was just to show an attitude of wanting to settle the matter peacefully.
As for Shimura Taiji's face or reputation, Ryun clearly hadn't considered that.
Looking at it from another angle, even if Ryun had considered his reputation, would Shimura Taiji then hold no grudge against Ryun?
The only thing Ryun was trying to achieve was to limit this matter to a personal grudge between him and Shimura Taiji.
If the Shimura family truly held a grudge against Ryun because of this later, he would just have to face it head-on.
Shimura Taiji's face turned green then purple, and the chakra within his body began to flow abnormally.
Ryun also confirmed this through his sensory abilities, knowing that if the other party weren't being deterred, he might have already been unable to resist taking action.
It seemed now that he was of the same ilk as those two genin.
"Fine, very good."
Shimura Taiji finally couldn't help but release his grip, saying, "I will come to repay in one week. Now, take down that scroll and destroy it!"
"Of course we can."
Ryun glanced at Tenten. Tenten immediately understood, flipped up onto the wall, then pulled up the scroll and tossed it into the air. She took out a kunai, swung it a few times, and the scroll turned into a flurry of white paper fragments dancing in the sky.
In the culture of the ninja world, there was no concept of white being unlucky; on the contrary, white represented purity and sacredness.
The white paper fragments made many children cheer. Ryun also seized the opportunity to say, "Thank you all for your deep affection for our little shop. I apologize, as a shareholder, for the unpleasant experience just now."
"I announce that everyone present today, each table will receive a complimentary plate of beef. I hope everyone enjoys their meal."
This time even the adults began to applaud, no one bothered to look at Shimura Taiji's expression anymore.
This made him, who still wanted to say some harsh words, instantly feel like a clown. He could only leave the crowd with a dark expression, but still shot a venomous glance at Ryun before disappearing.
Ryun couldn't see his retreating back, but he could sense his agitated chakra flow.
It seemed a violent conflict was still unavoidable... but the next time they met, Ryun wouldn't be at his current strength level.
After that, the yakiniku restaurant's business proceeded smoothly.
That afternoon, for the first time, Ryun didn't listen to the old folks' stories, but stayed busy at the yakiniku restaurant until late at night.
After closing, at the proprietress's insistence, everyone tallied up the day's revenue.
They were then surprised to find that, even with Ryun's high-intensity buying and giving away, the yakiniku restaurant's net profit still exceeded twenty thousand ryo.
Even due to the membership pre-payment activity, the shop now had a cash flow of a full one hundred and thirty thousand ryo.
Ryun wasn't surprised by this.
The yakiniku restaurant's back kitchen only needed to prepare and marinate ingredients; it didn't require a head chef.
Plus, grilled meat as a food inherently created a demand for drinks, so as long as there were plenty of customers, ensuring profitability wasn't a big problem.
However, he also understood that this kind of profit wasn't sustainable, after all, even ninja families couldn't eat yakiniku every day.
But that wasn't Ryun's concern. The events of the past couple of days were merely him drawing a temporary conclusion to that day's encounter. His energy still needed to be focused on training and writing his book.
And the most crucial point, it was also time to start the simulation for Ino.
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